Murphy5156

Driving home from work tonight I was about a mile from home when I heard some metal clanging and the power steering started to fail. As I pulled into a gas station to check it out I heard something fall on the ground under the car. It was what looks to be one of the wheels that a drive belt would wrap around. I was 1/4 of a mile from home so I drove the rest of the way with no power steering, but other than that the car seems to be running normal. It's a 2002 Max with 170,000 miles on it.

Has anyone had any experience with this and can tell me what might have happened and what's involved in repairing it?

Am I doing damage to anything if I drive the car to the dealer or something in it's current state?

Thanks!

Murphy5156

Looks like there's a nut that holds the power steering pulley onto the PS pump. Not sure how but the nut somehow worked itself loose and is now long gone and hard to find. Without the nut to hold it on obviously the next thing to happen was the pulley walked off the shaft. I can see that the treads appear to be in decent shape but the teeth on the shaft are a little beat up, as are the ones in the pulley. The belt is also obviously just dangling.

I see where I can buy just the shaft and the pulley and the nut and lock washer from Courtesy Nissan....but has anyone ever replaced that shaft? Does it simply screw into the pump when being replaced?

Murphy5156

I decided to drop my car at the dealer tonight so they can take a look first thing in the AM. I cut the power steering belt out before driving there because I was afraid it might get wrapped up in the serpentine belt or somewhere else and do more damage than I already have.

I'm hoping the dealer can just replace the pulley and the nut that fell off and be done with it. I'm hoping they don't insist on replacing the whole pump. I mean, right up until the moment the nut fell off and the pulley walked off the drive shaft the steering was great, so I can't believe the shaft was seized or anything.

I'll report back tomorrow with what the dealer comes back with.

Murphy5156

The dealer just called and were masters of the obvious when they said "the nut holding the pulley wheel on to the pump fell off." Gee, thanks. I knew that. :-)

They said they would need to replace the entire pump (I knew they would say that) at a cost of $860. I told them don't bother, I'll come get it and figure something else out.

As soon as I said that the rep said, "Oh, well the tech DID say he could put the old pulley back on with a new nut, but that he couldn't guarantee it would work." I said, "how much?" $200 with a new PS belt.

I told them to do it....if it turns out the old pulley slips or something due to wear or something I can buy a replacement for $50-$60 and have a buddy swap it out down the road.

CMax03

iTrader: (3)

Go to the salvage yard or Napa for another pump....I believe the same pump is used from the Versa to Sentra, from Titan to Maximas, the only thing that changes is the bracketry per vehicle....I would personally pull one off a 4th, 5th, or 6th gen in the salvage yard, it's a simple little pump........check with Napa I'm sure they're dirt cheap there!

Murphy5156

They dealer re-used the previous pulley and put it back on with a new nut and lock washer. They also put on a new PS belt as well as a new serpentine belt while they were at it. Bill came to $257 total and all seems back to normal with the car, definitely better than having to replace the entire pump.

Murphy5156

It's been about a week since the pulley wheel fell off my PS pump and was put back on (along with a new belt) at the Dealer. For the first day or so everything seemed fine, but a few days ago I started losing the power steering at very low speeds and at idle.

If I stop before making a turn into a street, the power is gone....but as soon as I start the turn and give the car some gas the power steering kicks back in. When it kicks back in I would still say it's only about 80% of normal, but it works.

Is it possible there could be any other cause for this behavior OTHER than the pump being bad? I know I can get a new one fairly cheap, but from what I can tell it's a bit of a pain to replace and I'm trying to make that my last option. Right up until the moment the pulley wheel fell off the power steering was perfect, so I'm having a hard time believing that the pump picked the same exact time to go bad.

A buddy and I tightened the belt a bit last night, but it really didn't help.

The other funny thing is that the loss of power steering is intermittent. One turn is fine, the next one a mile down the road I have to use two hands to crank the wheel around.

One last thing....I drove the car from my house to the dealer last weekend with no power steering....about 5 miles....that wouldn't have done damage to the pump, would it?

2k2 Max with 170,000 on it.

Anyone have any thoughts?

fflint_18

Did the shaft have a spline on it and was the inside of the pulley grooved for the spline??

If that was chewed up then your pulley may be slipping when at slow speeds and then catching again.

If so, then it's time for a new pump.

As everyone above says either pick one up in the junkyeard or the local parts store. If it doesn't come with a pulley make sure you get one of them also since it could be the culprit.

It's pretty easy since you already have a new belt.

Just disconnect the hoses and unbolt.

Good Luck

Murphy5156

fflint-

Yes, the teeth on the sprocket seemed to be in decent shape, but the ones on the pulley definitely looked chewed up before it was put back on. My buddy and I figured since the wheel was turning the pump that it had to be OK, but apparently the pulley can slip at differing engine speeds. Thanks!